King of the Wind

Sham is the titular character and a fictionalized version of the historical Godolphin Arabian, from whom many exceptional Thoroughbred racehorses descend. Agba names him Sham, the Arabic word for “sun,” because of the bay’s beautiful coat, which is compared to “burnished gold” (98) and “honey when held in a jar against the sunlight” (162). Henry portrays Sham as joyful and inquisitive, eager to learn about and engage with his surroundings: “The world was full of wonders!” (43). Another of the horse’s key traits is his indomitable will power; he can bear anything except being separated from Agba. Although the stableboy values the horse’s strong spirit, Sham often gets into trouble with other characters who would prefer an obedient animal to a proud one. He defies the many characters who attempt to break him, including the king’s cook, the wood carter, and Silas Slade. Sham also demonstrates his valor by challenging a much larger stallion named Hobgoblin for Roxana. Sham’s spirit, curiosity, and courage endear him to Agba but sometimes lead to conflict with the novel’s supporting cast.

Sham’s character arc reflects the novel’s themes and its distinctive blend of fact and fiction. The author combines historical details, elements of legend, and her own additions in her version of the horse’s journey from Africa to his eventual fame in England. For example, the Godolphin Arabian was likely sent to France by the ruler of Tunisia rather than Morocco. Along his journey, Sham must persevere through displacement and adversity. The horse is thrust into unfamiliar environments many times throughout the story, and he endures the cruelty of the Parisian wood carter and the English horse-breaker without allowing these changes and struggles to rob him of his spirit. The incidents with Slade and the carter aren’t supported by historical evidence, but they advance the theme and contribute to Henry’s portrait of the famous horse as a resilient underdog. Sham’s relationship with Agba is at the heart of the story and the theme of the beauty of loyalty between humans and animals. The horse gives the boy a sense of purpose and companionship, and he is so devoted to Agba that he won’t let anyone else ride him even though the result is often violence, as Roger Williams observes, “‘E knows ‘e’ll be licked fer it, but it don’t matter to ‘im. The only ‘uman bein’ what can ‘andle ‘im is a spindlin’ boy’” (107). Sham’s unbroken spirit and fierce loyalty testify to animals’ strength and the powerful bonds they can form with humans.

The wood carter who purchases Sham from Louis XV’s chef is one of the story’s antagonists. His physically imposing stature adds to his menacing presence: “He was enormous in build, and he stalked rather than walked, like a big tiger cat” (81). The wood carter is cruel to both humans and animals, which he demonstrates by striking Agba and Sham with his horsewhip. He also shows his callousness through his mocking sense of humor: “I feel sorry for beasts on a frosty day like this, so I give ‘em a big load to make ‘em sweat” (90). Another of the carter’s character flaws is the greed that drives him to overburden Sham’s cart with a heavy load of wood with the goal of making a profit on the day the horse collapses in the street. Similarly, the man shows his avarice and indifference to the suffering of his fellow creatures when he’s content to let a child live in his shed because the boy provides labor that “cost him nothing at all—in money or food or clothing” (88). The wood carter’s utter dearth of redeeming qualities emphasizes his role as an obstacle to Agba’s goals and a threat to Sham’s well-being.

The wood carter’s villainous role in the story adds suspense and thematic development. The character stems from legends about the Godolphin Arabian being reduced to pulling a water cart in Paris, but there is no historical evidence that this actually happened. The chapters about the carter develop the beauty of loyalty between humans and animals because Agba leaves his position in the royal stables to search Paris’s streets for Sham and then lives in the carter’s shed and works two jobs to try to care for the ailing horse. Agba and Sham’s time with the wood carter represents some of the worst conditions they endure in the entire novel, making this period important to the theme of perseverance through displacement and adversity. This is especially true of the scene in which the resilient Sham struggles to drag an excessive load in freezing conditions until he physically collapses: “Once more he threw himself against the collar of his harness. He struggled to keep his footing. […] But it was no use. With a low moan, Sham fell to his knees” (93). Structurally, the wood carter makes significant contributions to the story because his abuse of Sham spurs Mr. Coke to buy the horse and bring him to England, a key step toward his destiny as the Godolphin Arabian. The wood carter’s cruelty plays a prominent role in Henry’s framing of the Godolphin Arabian’s tale as an underdog story.

Mistress Cockburn is Mr. Jethro Coke’s housekeeper. The narrator describes her as “a plump, motherly person who had eyes like black raisins” (96), and her appearance reflects her nurturing personality. She teaches Agba how to read English, and her cooking helps him regain his health after his miserable living conditions in Paris. In a crucial demonstration of her kindness and generosity, Mistress Cockburn brings a basket of food for Agba and his animal friends to the Red Lion Inn and subsequently learns that the boy has been arrested. The housekeeper helps to secure Agba’s freedom by vouching for his good character to the Earl of Godolphin and the Duchess of Marlborough: “[T]he honestest lad I know has been sent to Newgate Jail” (118). Mistress Cockburn’s compassionate, nurturing, and generous personality makes her a significant source of support for the protagonist.

Mistress Cockburn’s motherly relationship toward Agba sets her apart from the rest of the novel’s supporting cast. The main character’s strongest relationships tend to be with animals rather than humans, but Agba and Mistress Cockburn’s reactions at seeing one another in Newgate Jail make the love between the two clear, “‘It’s him all right!’ she exclaimed, bursting into tears. ‘Oh, my poor boy…’ Agba smiled at Mistress Cockburn, and such a warmth and happiness coursed through his body that he was afraid he was going to cry, too” (120). The attentive and caring woman is also an exception in that many of the story’s adult characters are viciously cruel toward the boy and even well-intentioned characters like the Earl of Godolphin are neglectful of him at times. Henry presents the humble housekeeper as an instrument of divine will because she helps bring an end to Agba’s unjust imprisonment and because Sham becomes the Godolphin Arabian because of her fateful encounter with the Earl of Godolphin: “She stood there, dazed, in the very center of the lane, unmindful that a coach-and-six was rattling toward her at a great pace” (117). In the final chapter, Mistress Cockburn is among the crowd gathered at Newmarket during Lath’s race, and her benevolent presence adds to the resolution’s satisfaction because she is able to witness Sham and Agba achieve recognition at last.